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“Sorry,” Rian murmured. Had he been an alpha, I would have smelled the sour scent of shame, but he wasn’t. The beta was an important part of our pack–themostimportant part, the one who had brought Gray and I together as a pack in the first place–but he’d been having a rough time during our visits here.
“Don’t be,” I said, “And don’t worry. Gray is done being an asshole,” I raised an eyebrow at my fellow alpha, who nodded, “at least for tonight, and…”
“We’ll find someone,” the beta smiled. “Eventually.”
“Right,” I said.
I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt.
And then–just as I was picking up my soda and bitters to take another unsatisfying sip–another scent twined its way through the morass of sweetness: a warm, almost smoky vanilla, that made my heartbeat pick up and my cock stir with interest. I gulped down a mouthful of soda water, trying to focus on the scent without giving myself away, without letting my own scent spike with arousal, but when I glanced over at Gray, he was already looking back, his eyes intense, his back straight and still as his hand flexed around his drink.
He looked away, and I followed his gaze to a cluster of women standing against the bar–an omega and two beta friends, by the looks of them. Betas weren’t usually allowed in, unless they came as part of a pack, of course, or were accompanying an omega; sometimes they brought bodyguards, sometimes friends. In this instance, they were obviously her friends–I’d never seen a bodyguard wearing a miniskirt and high heels–and they giggled and whispered together as I noticed the omega noticing us. She was petite, with sleek black hair and a curvy body that immediately made me–would make any alpha–think of breeding: generous hips that the tight fabric of her dress clung to, breasts with a deep valley of cleavage between them, her low neckline seeming to barely contain them.
But it was her scent of vanilla, whispering to me from across the room, that had my mouth running dry and my brain blanking out, making the alpha in me bubble to the surface, instincts calling me to run her down, to pounce, to mark her as my own before fucking her like an animal.
“Not my usual type,” Gray whispered, his breath close and hot, “but…” I could smell his arousal, heavy in the air, and felt the hair on my neck rise. If the omega wasn’t interested in us, Rian had better be ready for a long night.
She would be, though–I could feel it. I could tell. There was something about her–not the way she looked, fluttering her eyelashes over her drink, garishly pink like Rian’s, not even her body–but that scent, that made the ever-present whisper in the back of my mind grow stronger, more insistent:ours.
“What are you guys–oh,” Rian said at my other side, snapping me from my trance as the beta, too, saw her. “You think..?” he trailed off, and Gray nodded, not taking his eyes off the woman even as he leaned back on the bench seat of the booth, spreading his knees wide. An invitation if I ever saw one, and she took it, swallowing down her drink before putting the glass on the bar and walking toward us, a confident half-smile on her face.
CHAPTERTHREE
Madison
The club was dimly lit,with a large bar along one wall–mocktails only, for consent purposes, although I had heard of people sneaking in real booze–and tables along the other three walls, ringing a large dance floor. The place wasn’t packed, but it was full enough that the scents of alphas and omegas suddenly filled my nose–musk and sweetness and sex and slick and sweat. Bodies, humans, dancing and drinking and looking for someone to take the edge off, just for tonight. Or, maybe, someone who they could spend every night with, forever and ever, happily ever after. True mates were possible, after all, for alphas and omegas.
That included me, now, I thought, distantly, as we made our way to the bar and placed our orders from a long menu of elaborate, chef-designed drinks. The alphas at the bar looked hungry, predatory, almost, but no one approached us: even if this was only one small step removed from a sex club, the people here were all well-vetted. Background checks were required for all visitors, and the alphas and packs who patronized the club paid a staggeringly large sum of money just for the opportunity to become members. I had wondered at the willingness of any pack to drop that kind of cash just for thechanceat an omega, but… they were rare, and precious.
We, I corrected myself,weare rare. Was I precious? I wobbled on my heels. I wasn’t convinced. I was just Madison. I had lived too long as a beta to buy into the idea of preciousness. I knew who I was, and it wasn’t one of those pampered, spoiled omegas who let their alphas treat them like delicate flowers during the day and submissive sex dolls at night.
I took a sip of my drink–which was jarringly sweet without the sharp undertaste of alcohol I was used to in a cocktail, and settled in at the bar, gazing out over the crowd of dancing bodies. Was there someone in the crowd who would wantme?
“Those guys aretotallyflirting with me, Mads,look,” Charlie crooned, smiling back at a trio of alphas seated at a table. The sight of them made my stomach flip-flop: the three men were undeniably alpha, two of them tall and broad-shouldered, the third slightly smaller, but with the kind of tightly-coiled muscle of a wildcat. The one in the center–the one with the most muscles, I noticed, and felt a pulse of desire low in my belly–was obviously the leader, the pack alpha; the other two leaned toward him, their body language revealing their pack hierarchy. He had brown hair, short and side swept, a boyish face, and–I melted slightly–a tight dress shirt that showed off well-defined pecs and thick arms. One bicep strained against its sleeve as his hand wrapped around his glass, and I couldn’t help but imagine them pinning my wrists to the bed as he…Keep your head, Madison,I thought, blinking rapidly as I caught myself fantasizing. I hadn’t gotten used to my new libido, my new instincts–or the new way my body betrayed my every emotion, broadcasting my arousal for everyone in my vicinity to smell. I tried to take in the other two dispassionately: to the leader’s left, a slightly smaller man with dark eyes and dark, wavy hair. He wore a dark suit jacket but no tie, the top buttons of his white shirt undone to reveal the hollow at the base of his throat. To the right, a sandy-haired man in a pale blue dress shirt that hung from broad shoulders, his eyes fixed on his drink. When he looked up, I nearly gasped–he was gorgeous, with a high forehead and cheekbones, and a strong jaw that perfectly framed a slightly pouty mouth and twinkling eyes. For a moment, I thought about walking over myself, imagined myself leaning in close to the pack alpha like his two packmates, breathing in that scent that only alphas had, that musky, masculine, erotic scent that I now found myself lusting after, tempted by on the street or in the subway, conjuring in my memory as I showered or touched myself at night. Would he be spicy, like pepper or cinnamon, or would he smell like coffee or grass or laundry or..? I squeezed my legs together at the pulsing sensation in my core.That’s enough of that, Madison.
After all, two of them–the brown-haired, broad-shouldered one and the wildcat–were staring right at Charlie, their interest undisguised in a way that would have been unacceptably forward in one of our usual beta haunts, where three leering alphas would have been read as a threat, not an invitation, and my friend was preening under their gaze. It was typical that Charlie would be the one who got hit on, even at a club designedexplicitlyfor alphas and omegas to find… well, if notlove, then at least something roughly approximating it, at least something that would get you through for a night or a heat. She was confident, and outgoing, and definitely not going to let a little thing like her beta designation stop her from having fun tonight. A lot of fun, by the looks of it, as she fluttered her eyelashes at them over her mocktail–cranberry and lime and seltzer–and leaned closer to me, her body brushing against mine as she whispered in my ear.
“You think I could take three guys?” I nearly choked on my own drink as she nudged me with her elbow, her eyes sparkling.
“You can certainly try,” I said, laughing, and Sophia, too leaned in, her blonde hair swinging in her high ponytail.
“Lube, Charlie, and lots of it,” she stated, matter-of-fact, making all three of us burst into giggles.
“Ah, to be an omega, and self-lubricating,” Charlie sighed wistfully. I blushed as I noticed an alpha next to us at the bar turn to look in our direction. “Well,c’est la vie,” she said, straightening her shoulders, thrusting her chest out proudly. She took one last sip before placing her empty glass on the bartop, and winking at me. “Wish me luck, ladies.” I didn’t begrudge her fun; I held up my own glass in a toast and watched as my friend strode confidently towards the three men.
“If only we could all be so confident,” I said, stepping closer to Sophia, who was leaning back against the bar, her elbows propping her up so one hand dangled alongside the curve of her slim waist. Her blonde hair and glossy lips caught the glittering, fractured light of the club. She was, as usual, totally oblivious to the way she looked, and to the hopeful looks sent her way by more than one alpha on the dance floor.
“I was serious about the lube,” she replied, a laugh in her voice. “Those guys look…” she raised her eyebrows. I giggled once again. “Let’s give her a few minutes to work her magic before we join her,” she said, and I nodded, happy to let Charlie have her night of fantasy, but my brain returned to Sophia’s casual comment. They looked… big,alpha,and I realized, for the first time, what I was actually doing here, why I was drinking a weird peach-pineapple mocktail at a bar in a revealing minidress and uncomfortably tall, borrowed heels. I was supposed to be dangling the lure of my new omega body’s new omega perfume in the water and reeling in an alpha to spend a heat with. Tofuck, or rather, tobe fucked by, so that my next heat wouldn’t be like my last: alone and medicated in a private hospital room full of unimaginable sex toys. I was supposed to be finding myselfa knot.
My heartrate spiked, and suddenly, the room swam around me, the flood of scents making me dizzy and woozy despite my non-alcoholic drink. I tried to take a deep breath, but that just made the thick scent of alpha stronger, and I felt a heat growing between my legs, my simple cotton thong growing wet and clinging.
“I’ll meet you over there, actually,” I said to Sophia, waving away her concern as she saw my face. I felt warm all over–I was sure I was blushing. “Detouring to the bathroom.”
“I’ll go with you,” she said, but I shook my head.
“Thanks, Sophia, but I’m fine. I’ll be back in a minute. Keep an eye on Charlie for me,” I said, winking at my friend. She winked back, and I hurried off, making my way around the mass of bodies on the dancefloor and into the cool, quiet bathroom.
I went straight to the sink, running cold water over my wrists, washing off what scent I could as I let the water cool my skin. I looked at myself in the mirror: pink, flushed face, slightly wild eyes. I could see why Sophia had been concerned, but there was nothing to do for it. I dried my hands, and pressed my cool palms to my cheeks, careful not to smudge the makeup Charlie had applied so expertly: long black eyelashes and cat eye liner more symmetrical than I could ever get it myself.She should have been the omega, not me, I thought, not for the first time, then remembered I would never wish this on anyone: the pain of my first heat, the shame of my every emotion dispersed on the breeze, the dependency on another, on an unknown stranger who just happened to have the body part I wouldneed like airfor a few days every few months.
